Gaza mourns 75 Palestinians recovered from rubble of Israeli-destroyed homes

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - GAZA CITY — Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in Gaza City on Sunday to mourn 75 people, including women and children, whose remains were recovered from beneath the rubble of homes destroyed by Israeli forces during the early months of the war.

The funeral procession began outside the Daraj Sports Club before the remains were laid to rest at Sheikh Radwan Cemetery in Gaza City.

The remains, draped in Palestinian flags, had been placed at the sports club on Saturday evening, allowing grieving relatives to bid farewell to loved ones whose bodies had remained buried beneath the rubble for years.

Abdullah Al-Majdalawi, director of public relations and media for Gaza's Civil Defense, told Anadolu Agency that rescue teams had recovered the remains over recent weeks from several destroyed homes in the Daraj neighborhood of northeastern Gaza City.

He said the buildings were bombed while residents were inside during the early months of the war, adding that the victims belonged to approximately 20 Palestinian families, including displaced people who had sought shelter in the homes.

Al-Majdalawi said recovery operations continued to face severe challenges because of shortages of specialized equipment and heavy machinery needed to clear the extensive destruction.

The recovery efforts are part of the second phase of a Civil Defense project launched on July 19 to retrieve the bodies of Palestinians still trapped beneath destroyed buildings.

Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said the second phase involved searching 147 destroyed homes across Gaza City and the northern and central parts of the enclave, where an estimated 1,072 bodies were believed to remain buried.

The first phase, launched in November 2025, recovered 333 bodies and human remains from 54 destroyed homes and buildings, where 559 people were believed to have been trapped.

However, limited resources prevented rescue teams from reaching approximately 226 other victims.

On October 7, Basal told Anadolu that more than 8,000 missing Palestinians were still believed to be buried beneath the rubble across Gaza.

He warned that recovering all the remains could take approximately eight years with the equipment and resources currently available.

Under the first phase of a ceasefire agreement that took effect on October 10, 2025, Israel was expected to allow heavy machinery and specialized equipment into Gaza to support recovery and reconstruction efforts.

Palestinian authorities and factions have accused Israel of failing to fulfill that commitment and other provisions of the agreement.

More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 175,000 injured since Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza in October 2023, according to the figures cited in the report.

Approximately 90% of the enclave's civilian infrastructure has been destroyed, leaving vast areas in ruins and thousands of families still searching for missing relatives.